HAITI BLOG

Dr. Alezandre Dauphin.

I have been working in Haiti for the last 20 years providing health care to Haitians and more intensely since the earthquake; and I have seen the destruction of the core of Haiti, Port-au-Prince and its surroundings first-hand. The most powerful earthquake in 200 years hit Haiti on January 12, killing 200,000 people and affecting over 3.5 million. Lifelines to even the most basic health services were disrupted, especially for the extreme poor among whom access to especially maternal and child health care was already a problem.

Before the earthquake, mothers in Haiti faced catastrophic risks, with one in 200 mothers dying in childbirth, the highest rate in the Western Hemisphere. Even more disheartening is the situation for children with one in nine children dying before their fifth birthday. These children are fighting for their survival every day, most often against conditions easily prevented and/or treated, such as respiratory infections, diarrhea and malnutrition. The impact of the earthquake has left the people in Haiti with health care issues that are even more devastating. It encompasses now all genders and social strata with extended consequences for years to come.

Most of the indicators underlying mortality rates have either stagnated or worsened in Haiti over the last five years:

• Breastfeeding has fallen to unacceptably low levels
• Childhood immunization rates range from 10 – 40 per cent nationwide
• Malnutrition among children and pregnant women remains high
• Only 26 per cent of women have a skilled attendant at birth
• Haiti has one of the oldest HIV/AIDS epidemics in the western hemisphere

This week, leaders of G8 countries meet in Canada and maternal and child health tops their agenda. Will the G8 set out clear plans to tackle these problems in Haiti and other developing countries facing similar crises?

The priorities are clear: Enhancement of basic health care delivery, family planning, prenatal and postpartum care, assisted deliveries, treatment of diarrheal diseases in children, nutrition counseling and education (including promotion of breastfeeding) and vitamin A supplements. To succeed, all of these are to be done in a way that will bring changes that are truly irreversible and long lasting.